News story on gas prices and the economy

Before heading off to work, I try to peruse the paper for a few local stories and glance at some headlines.

However, one story caught my eye that claimed that the recovering economy can withstand the rising gas prices.

I'm wondering where they got that information. Maybe some cities won't have a problem, but locally, we have had two businesses with major layoffs, and many of our folks who are employed are underemployed. I'm sure having to choose between gas in the tank and food on the table and medicine for health, many will not buy fuel and try to find alternatives or stay at home.

I'm sure our tourism will be hurt this summer too.

I remember when news stories were supposed to be factual and based on true stuff. It seems that news is often skewed by sensationalism to tell the story or the personal views of the editor. I'm a realist. If it is a news story, I want the facts, good or bad. If I want to read an opinion, I'll look on the editorial page. I really wonder where the reporter got those facts on the economy and gas prices. A generalized story on the wire doesn't mean everyone has the same situation. So, I am thinking we might have a situation where the economy might not be able to weather these gas prices...at least near me.

4 Responses to “News story on gas prices and the economy”

Just last night I was doing a calculation on the cost difference between driving from California to New Mexico and back, vs. flying there. The decision to drive vs. fly will significantly impact how long we vacation, which will significantly impact how much money we end up spending overall. If we drive, we'll stay over several nights coming and going in Arizona in order to visit two of the state's National Parks. If we fly, we'll skip over Arizona altogether, which would certainly impact how many tourism dollars they collect from us.

I don't believe the economy can handle it well. The recovery was already shaky. This may make it crumble back into depression. I'm already debating whether or not we should just cancel our summer trip since it involves a lot of driving or just go to one spot, stay there and use public transport to get around. If we cancel those will be dollars not used to buy gas, go to the zoo, go to the forts, eat out a bit and buy at grocery stores, and go whale watching/sailing.

It's funny because I heard on the radio that "2 out of 3 Americans can not handle rising gas prices." Something like that. Which struck me as extreme on the opposite end.

The news? What a joke. I was extremely aggravated by tax misinformation from "reliable" news sources last week. That's kind of the norm, but it seemed worse than usual. Then I mentioned a fire across the street from my parents' home. The brief news articles about the fire got the gist but got almost every detail wrong. In fact, it had a statement that painted the homeowners in a very bad light - to the point I had people calling me and asking me what the hell is going on with my parents' neighbors. "Who are these people?!?" These are people that my parents know very well, as they have been neighbors for 20 years. I told them it was probably an exaggeration and probably not a big deal. Because lord knows every other detail was wrong.

I used to feel like, "Don't believe everything you read." I am changing up to sentiment to, "Don't believe *anything* you read."

I am living overseas, and many people in SE Europe have converted their vehicles to run on propane and methane because gasoline and diesel are so expensive (even more than in the States). In fact, it is hard to find a taxi that is NOT running on propane or methane -- it's safe, cleaner, and cheaper, so why is this not utilized and perfected in the US? It has been very educational being overseas for a few years and it leads to seeing things through different eyes. I no longer trust the major news outlets in the US, and it saddens me. I wish we could have some insurance of factual and non-filtered information, but I don't think it will happen any time soon.
Jerry

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